Once Thought Dead, Witness in University of Miami Murder Case is Found Alive — Weeks Before Trial By Jillian Frankel

A murder trial is set to proceed after being upended by a revelation that an elderly witness, previously thought to be dead, is still alive.

In August 2021, former University of Miami football player Rashaun Jones was charged in the murder of his onetime teammate, 22-year-old Bryan Pata, who was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Miami on Nov. 7, 2006. Jones has pleaded not guilty.

ESPN reported that prosecutors told the court a witness, Paul Conner, an 81-year-old retiree, was dead, basing their belief on information from a third-party database. Conner used to live in the apartment complex where Pata was killed, and had notified police that he heard a loud noise and saw an individual “jogging” away from an area close to the scene of the crime, according to the outlet, and he later selected Jones from a photo lineup.

But ESPN reporters located Conner alive when they knocked on his door in Louisville, Ky. weeks before the trial was set to begin. On August 25, he told the outlet he has difficulty recalling the details of the incident. His phone also showed dozens of missed calls, some of which appeared to originate from Miami-area numbers.

“I’m getting up in years,” he told ESPN. “My memory comes and goes. How long ago was this court case?”

“ESPN released an article whereby they made contact with our eyewitness in this case, Paul Conner,” a prosecutor told the court during a hearing on Friday, Sept. 19, Miami news station WPLG reported.

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According to the station, the judge ruled that the case is set to proceed on Oct. 6.

The prosecutor and defense attorney involved in the case could not immediately be reached by PEOPLE to provide additional information about how the trial is moving forward in light of the new information about Conner and it is unclear whether he will testify.

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According to ESPN, prosecutor Cristina Diamond told the judge that in light of the outlet’s reporting, a detective contacted local police in Kentucky to request a visit to Conner’s most recent address.

“They were able to make contact with Paul Conner. So at this time, what I can tell the court is that Paul Conner is alive,” Diamond said, per ESPN. “I think the state needs to do a little bit of further investigation. It appears that he was very confused and is not certain what the case is about.”